18 Comments

It isn't only a decline in intellect, although that is certainly happening. It's also a decline in executive function, which is probably worse, since it weakens precisely that element of cognition that underpins civilization by enabling sustained attention, delayed gratification, and emotional regulation.

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Executive function is probably a word I was looking for this entire time and it eluded me throughout the writing process. Surprising, too, since all I ever hear about these days seems to be Executive Dysfunction.

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There's always part 2.

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Part 2 is already finished, for the most part, but when I go back and tweak it, it's probably going to be liberally added.

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This always happens to me.

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Ugh. I've only just discovered this stack, but after reading 2 posts I feel the need to go back and read ALL your posts! I don't have time for this :) ... Yes, that smiley was intentional.

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Well, I'm glad you found it enjoyable. Take your time getting through the backlog... they aren't going anywhere. Hopefully.

〣( ºΔº )〣

(That one's intentional, too :) )

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We need to talk about the experimental injections.

After my 2nd shot, I had debilitating brain fog that lasted weeks and weeks (yes, I was stupid enough to get 2 shots. I got them early, in Jan/Feb 2021, before the news started coming out about how dangerous/deadly they are).

Somebody above mentioned executive dysfunction. My own was so bad that I could no longer plan and execute any project that had more than a couple steps.

I couldn’t record my part for a track my band was putting together (before the shots, I had proudly taught myself how to record and edit in Ableton; after the shots, my mind was crippled). I couldn’t even cast on a new knitting project.

I looked up my batch numbers on howbad.info . Turns out both my shots were in the top 5% of deadliest reported batches, with 44 and 46 deaths reported, respectively.

I’ve worked really hard on my recovery, using supplements, nutrition, sleep, prayer, and a relentlessly positive attitude to regain my lost physical & mental capacity.

Anyway, point being, there are probably millions of Americans walking around with literal brain damage.

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I'm sorry to hear you suffered so greatly, and I appreciate you sharing your story. The fact that the site howbad even exists is a testament to the abominable nature of the people who let this catastrophe happen. I'm fairly certain you're correct. In fact, I know you're correct, as one of the most common negative side-effects of the shot from what I've read is brain fog. COVID, too, has "brain fog" listed as an official symptom. I've never heard the term before COVID, which I attribute to my own ignorance, but at the same time, it's amazing how after the pandemic, it's a condition that has entered the every day lexicon. Rest assured in the next part, I'll touch on the shots, COVID, and their part to play in this.

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Very early zoomer here, I and can confirm absolutely everything you have to say about my generation. Millennials have plenty of black marks on their collective record, but your lot is rather hard to criticise from our perspective, as we're even worse. Millenials were raised by their television sets, Zoomers by the internet. One's bad for a myriad of reasons, but the other is far, far worse. I do, however, think that this is ultimately just the intensification of a trend that's been happening since culture went industrial and became pop culture. Some sort of vicious cycle between mass culture and the men raised by it being less virtuous than their fathers

As for the unicorn, I think that's just a supremely unfortunate coincidence. I hope so too, since if it isn't, that means many assumptions about the ruling class will have to be revised (and not for the better)

I await the second part with bated breath

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You're absolutely on the money, I think, about the industrial pop culture. When you take away nations, race, states, religion, family, and just about everything else, you leave people with nothing else to glom onto, basically. As C.S. Lewis said - and I brought this up in one of my MLP articles - "Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison."

The unicorn is also symbolism that deserves its own deep dive. I hate to say it, but I don't think it's coincidence that the unicorn, of all things, is proliferated as it is. I mean, dragons are cooler (at least in my opinion), but we don't have pooping dragon toys or sparkly slime called "dragon poop". At least to my knowledge. Point is, the unicorn isn't just some horse with a horn, and, in European mythology and esoteric circles, it's much more than just a cryptid equine. The unicorn, in its most pure form, is less like a horse and more like a unique sort of ungulate creature unto itself. Interestingly, the original depiction of unicorns actually have more in common with goats than horses, and can be traced back far, far before medieval Europe in their genesis. They are, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating legendary creatures, both in their evolution in culture and also what they represent.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this piece, however. The next part will be here on the same bat-channel and the same bat-time.

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"If you’re familiar with esoteric symbolism, the constant presence of the unicorn might concern you just a little… but I don’t know if y’all are ready for that conversation, yet."

Oh I am so very here for any and all talks concerning transcendent mythic images. Corrupted or otherwise.

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Well, the perversion of the unicorn as a symbol is one of the more pernicious cultural phenomenon I think I've seen over the years. Of course, as the West became secular and the mysteries and magic of the old age died and were relegated to myth, I think it's not particularly shocking the unicorn was relegated from a unique and distinct beast with profound metaphorical associations and connotations to just "a horse with a horn", but what still surprises me is just how pervasive and all encompassing the imagery is in so many facets of consumer goods. I did an experiment with a friend of mine and we went to a Target and we eventually lost count of how many individual products we found with unicorn iconography on it. And, yeah, I get the sense that it probably started out harmless and innocuous enough, but now that unicorns are seemingly now popularly associated with feces, especially in the minds of young children who regularly play with defecating, farting unicorn toys and eat snacks called unicorn turds (really) and play with slime called unicorn snot (and sometimes poop)... something just seems deeply sinister about taking a figure traditionally associated with purity, cleanliness, healing, innocence, royalty, and, at times, the divine, and quite literally soiling it with shit.

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Back in June I talked to a Tucson school teacher who was up in the high country on vacation. He was... we can call charitably call it 'clinically depressed' about what he was seeing in schools. Specifically, the effects of smartphones on his kids, and the cultural dogmas that have gotten cemented in place.

It was an interesting and upsetting confirmation of some of what I see on the Internet.

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I don't think there's a more depressing place to be than a public school these days, except maybe a prison or one of those homeless tent cities in Portland or New York. My mother was a teacher for many years and left a year or two back because she just couldn't take it. Given how violently the culture shifted, I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did.

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Pretty sure the link in "I’m not the only person who thinks this." is to the wrong page.

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Yep, you'd be right. Should be fixed now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

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🤝

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